Broken
by Kylie Anderson
Summary: When Gibbs left, he left the team broken. But will he have to return in order to save one of his own?
1. Prologue

Broken

Prologue

Seeing him walk out almost ripped my heart out. I couldn't grasp the concept. I doubt I would ever be able to accept the fact that Leroy Jethro Gibbs walked out of NCIS on his own. He just got up and retired. He handed his gun to Tony and said his final goodbyes. And that was it. After so long, he just left.

At first, I was a little upset. Actually, I was very upset. How dare the man just leave Tony, McGee and I? We had worked so hard together and I…

My mind drifted to Ari once again. I stopped the tears from spilling out. His photo was right over there…on my piano…we were smiling so happily. I killed my brother for that man! And he left me all alone! Sure, Tony would make an okay boss and McGee was an okay partner, but things would never be the same. No one would really understand me. It was Gibbs who understood me.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not in love with Gibbs or anything like that. Gibbs was just a very close friend to me, but I've lost him. I keep losing people around me. It can just get so upsetting and so frustrating at the same time.

There was a knock at my door. I hadn't realized I was crying until then. I wiped away my tears and looked through the peep hole. It was Tony. I opened the door. "Hello Ziva." Tony said in a strained voice.

I looked at him. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

I didn't mean to sound rude, but it was a surprise to see my old partner and now new boss in the doorway to my apartment. Tony's eyes looked slightly red. "Can I come in?" Tony asked quietly.

I nodded and cleared the doorway for him. He sat down on my couch as if he lived in my apartment. "What do you need?" I asked again.

Tony shrugged. "I don't know Ziva." Tony replied so softly.

I looked at him with pity. "Is this about Gibbs?" I asked gently.

Tony nodded. Oddly enough, he let out a few choked sobs. "I…um…I don't know what to do Ziva." Tony said.

"Do about what?" I asked.

Tony took a few minutes before answering. "I…I don't know how to be a boss. Sure it's all fun and games when you're only boss for a few days and you know the real boss will come back and straighten things out." Tony said. "But this isn't for a few days. This is for the rest of my life."

I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. "I can't joke around anymore. I've got to be the leader. I've got to be serious. I've got to be the boss. And you know what? I don't think I can be the boss." Tony said.

I sat down next to Tony. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but Gibbs didn't feel that way. He obviously felt you were ready to take on the challenge of being boss." I said shortly.

I had no clue what to say, so I decided to keep the topic broad and short. Tony got up. "I'm sorry that I bothered you." Tony said leaving my apartment quickly.

As soon as he closed the door, I frowned. Tony wasn't acting normal; however, I couldn't blame him. Who could act normal? And what is normal anyway? Normal is just a word that has no meaning in English I guess.

Sighing, I made my way into my bed where I was hoping sleep would take away all of my pain.

It was at that time that I realized, we were all broken.


	2. Worse

Chapter 1

Worse

Ziva awoke early the next morning to find herself dizzy with a massive headache. When she was stressed or upset she would have a headache. Ziva tried not to think about Gibbs when she was getting ready for work, but how could she not think about him?

Ziva arrived at NCIS at seven forty five, but didn't enter the building until eight. She just sat in her car looking over at Gibbs's old parking spot. When she entered, her hands were shaking. She felt sick to her stomach when she saw Tony sitting at Gibbs's desk. "Hello Ziva," Tony said expressionless.

Ziva gulped. "Hi Tony," Ziva said shortly.

McGee ran in late. "Sorry I'm late boss…" McGee began but stopped after he said boss.

Everyone seemed to freeze. Tony got up agitated. "Look at us! We can't function! We need to pull it together people!" Tony said angrily.

Ziva looked at him harshly. "We're trying Tony! We're trying very hard to pull it together! You can't take your anger out on us! We're trying!" Ziva yelled at him.

"How would you know? You barely knew Gibbs…" Tony began.

Ziva's eyes darkened. "Are trying to say that I didn't care about Gibbs? What is this? Abby told me I didn't care about Gibbs and now you? Tell me what you think Tony!" Ziva said darkly.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, I don't think you give a damn about Gibbs! You didn't even shed a tear…" Tony began.

Ziva stepped up to Tony with her hand raised. She wanted to hit him so hard that he would have brain swelling, although Tony did have a pretty big head already. Her body was shaking with anger. She saw the sudden fear in Tony's eyes. Ziva turned away quickly letting out a sound of frustration. "You! Make me so…mad!" Ziva shouted.

"Special Agent David, I suggest you take a seat." Tony said coolly as if nothing happened.

Ziva slapped her hand hard on her desk. "Do not order me around today Tony!" Ziva shouted.

By now, the entire NCIS staff was looking at Tony and Ziva. Even Abby and Ducky were watching. "What? You don't like me being boss either? I don't like it much myself so…" Tony started.

Ziva wasted no time walking up to Tony and hitting him hard. Tony responded by grabbing her wrist. Ziva quickly got her wrist out of Tony's grasp. "Sit down." Tony ordered coldly.

Ziva bit her tongue as she forcefully sat down. Tony looked around to see that everyone had been watching them carefully. Tony looked at Ziva and McGee. "Alright, let's get to work." Tony said. "We've got a missing marine…"

Tony went on and on about the details of the case, but Ziva found herself tuning him out. McGee wanted to pay attention, but he found it was impossible to hear a word Tony was saying. Ducky noticed this and stepped in. "Anthony, do you really believe this is the best time for your team to be handling a case?" Ducky asked quietly.

Tony looked at Ducky then at Ziva and McGee. "No, probably not, but the director has strict orders for us…" Tony began, but stopped.

Ducky nodded understanding. Ducky and Abby left quickly. "As I was saying," Tony said. "This young marine has been missing for over twenty four hours. It is critical that we find him and bring him home safe."

"I can get his phone records. Maybe he called someone who might be able to tell us the state of mind this marine was in." McGee offered.

Tony nodded. "Good probie." Tony praised. "Ziva?"

Ziva looked up at Tony. "I guess we can search his home." Ziva said in a lazy voice.

Tony nodded. "Alright." Tony said grabbing his gear.

Ziva did the same. When going through the marine's home, Ziva and Tony rarely talked unless it was necessary. All of their hard work went to waste when they found the marine…in Hawaii on vacation. He apparently forgot to tell people he was going.

The day couldn't have ended soon enough for Ziva. As she was about to clock out, Tony grabbed her wrist. "You will not act this way again, understood?" Tony asked.

Ziva looked at Tony with tired eyes. "I am very tired Tony. I would like to go home now." Ziva said quietly.

Tony's anger disappeared. He let go of her wrist. "I'm sorry." Tony muttered.

Ziva nodded. "I'm sorry too. I guess we were all upset today." Ziva said.

Ziva brushed past Tony and walked on to the elevator. Tony was then left to watch Ziva disappear. Tony sighed. Things weren't getting better. They were getting worse.

If only they knew how bad things were going to get.


	3. Crime Scene

Chapter 2

Crime Scene

Ziva awoke to a shatter in the middle of the night. She snapped up suddenly alert. Without hesitating, Ziva grabbed her gun that she kept on her nightstand. She stood up slowly looking around in the dark. It was now silent.

Ziva cautiously walked out of her bedroom with her gun drawn. She walked down the hallway and looked in every room, but it appeared that there was no one in the house besides Ziva. She sighed putting her gun down to her side and walking back to her room. All the stress must have been getting to her.

As Ziva climbed into bed, she heard another clash. She sat straight up. She then heard footsteps. She looked at her alarm clock to see that it was two in the morning. She quickly found her cell phone and dialed a random number. Only when he answered, did she know who she called. "What?" McGee's voice asked sleepily.

"McGee?" Ziva asked surprised. "McGee, I'm at home and I think someone has broken in. I looked around, but there isn't anyone here."

"I'll get Tony and we'll be right over." McGee said sounding more alert.

Ziva nodded. "Thanks." Ziva said.

She hung up and then set the cell phone aside. She grabbed her gun once again. It was now silent again. Out of nowhere, someone grabbed Ziva and quickly disarmed her. Ziva struggled against the person stunned. She quickly regained her composure and twisted around to see her attacker was a male.

Once Ziva broke free of the man, she ran out into her living room which was nearest the door. The man tackled her from behind. When Ziva threw a punch, the man matched her with a block. Ziva found herself struggling to keep up. There was something off. This man had fighting skills to match her skills. It was then that Ziva knew she and her attacker had both been Mossad officers.

Ziva moved the man near her piano and once he was close enough, Ziva pushed it over. The man quickly moved out of the way so gracefully it was as if he expected her to do that. In the little light Ziva had, she saw a glint as if a small object were metal. She knew what it was when the object pierced her skin. It was a needle.

Ziva found herself drifting away. "Finally," The man muttered as Ziva slumped to the floor unconscious.

-----

Tony awoke to McGee's scared voice. He was muttering on about Ziva hearing something. "Ziva will be fine." Tony snapped finally hanging up his phone tiredly.

He rolled and looked at his clock. It was two thirty in the morning. He was going to kill McGee…

-----

McGee had been a little concerned, but if Tony didn't think it was important, then it probably wasn't. Ziva was well trained. She could defiantly take care of herself. McGee closed his eyes hoping that things would be alright.

-----

The first thing McGee noticed when he sat at his desk was that Ziva wasn't sitting at her desk as she normally was. McGee felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Tony?" McGee asked quietly.

"What?" Tony snapped.

"Ziva isn't here." McGee noted.

Tony looked at him. "Who cares? She'll show up. I can't believe she didn't call in to say she would be late. She's always so self-centered." Tony muttered going through his files.

_Look who's talking! _McGee thought silently. McGee quickly got to work.

-----

After a half-hour, McGee stood up. "Ziva still isn't here." McGee stated.

"So?" Tony asked.

"I think we need to check on her." McGee said firmly.

Tony looked at the clock. He sighed. "Call her. If she doesn't answer…" Tony began.

"I've already called her six times." McGee interrupted. "She's not answering."

Tony got up and grabbed his coat. McGee did the same following Tony into the elevator.

-----

Once they got to Ziva's apartment, Tony knocked on the door. When he got no response, he announced himself. "Ziva, its Tony." Tony said loudly.

When there was still no response, Tony grabbed a key from the top of her door frame. "How…?" McGee began.

"A good partner always knows where their partner keeps their spare key." Tony said smiling.

Tony opened the door and his smile faded. The place was a mess. Things were thrown about and Ziva's piano was tipped over. There was a small pool of blood on the floor. Tony swore when he saw this. "Don't touch anything. This is a crime scene." Tony said darkly as he pulled out his cell phone.


	4. The Photo

Chapter 3

The Photo

Within minutes, Ziva's apartment was crawling with NCIS agents. "This place is a wreck." One of them commented looking at a shattered flower pot.

"So did you hear anything?" Tony asked an old lady who was Ziva's neighbor.

The old woman nodded. "I hear a lot of breaking glass and stuff being thrown around. I hope nothing happened to that Ziva girl. She was so nice. She helped me carry my groceries and she can speak Hebrew. Hebrew is my first language. She often came in and had tea with me. She's a very sweet girl." The woman said.

Tony nodded. "What time did you hear the noise?" Tony asked.

The old woman thought for a minute. "At about two in the morning. I was going to call the police but I think I forgot…" The old woman said.

"Thank you." Tony said walking away. "Did you find anything?" Tony asked McGee.

McGee nodded. "Ziva was apparently a quite neighbor who helped people a lot. Everyone heard loud noises coming from her apartment at two in the morning, but no one thought to call the police. That's about when she called me." McGee said. "If we'd only come!"

Tony shrugged. "What's done is done." Tony said shortly.

Someone motioned them over to the Ziva's door. "It looks like someone picked the lock. It seems like this person is a professional at picking locks. This type of lock is almost fool proof. Only a genius could pick the lock." The woman said.

Tony and McGee nodded. "Let's go back to NCIS and see what Abby has for us." Tony said.

-----

Abby sat in her lab sulkily. Tony walked in and handed her a Caff-Pow. She took it and threw it in the garbage. "What's wrong?" Tony asked.

"I was rather mean to Ziva. What if she dies hating me?" Abby asked sadly.

"She's not going to die and she wouldn't die hating you." Tony said. "We'll find her. We've lost a ton of agents before and we've been able to find them."

Abby got up off her stool. "Yeah, that's because you had Gibbs! It's only you and McGee trying to look for Ziva! You don't have Gibbs anymore because he randomly wanted to retire!" Abby started off angrily.

Tony hugged her and she stopped her angry rampage. "It's going to be fine." Tony said.

Abby looked at him. "I don't know. The blood on the floor was Ziva's." Abby said quietly.

Tony let go of Abby. "Did they also find a small spot of clear liquid?" Tony asked. "I think that's what probie was on about on the way over here. He said it was near the blood."

Abby nodded. "Yeah, it was a drug. My guess is that someone goes to Ziva's apartment and takes her, but she puts up a fight so they have to knock her out with this drug. She must have hit her head on the way down because there's blood on a table and it's Ziva's." Abby said softly.

McGee walked in. "Why would someone try to kidnap Ziva? It would take a lot of effort." McGee noted.

"Yeah well, if you piss someone off enough it's pretty easy for them to find the effort to kidnap you." Tony said sighing. "Anything else?"

Abby shook her head. "I dusted like everything for prints, but there's nothing!" Abby said frustrated.

Tony looked at the evidence in bags on a table. He saw something and began moving towards it. He slowly lifted it up and looked at it closely. "Where was this found?" Tony asked showing the item to Abby.

Abby walked over and looked at the bag. "It says it was found near the piano. Why?" Abby asked.

Tony looked at the photo in the broken frame. He pointed to the man next to Ziva smiling. "Does he look familiar to you?" Tony asked in a cold tone.

Abby and McGee shook their heads. "It's a younger version of Ari." Tony said darkly. "He killed Kate."

Tony threw the photo down on the table. "And Ziva was his girlfriend!" Tony said angrily. "We trusted her!"

Tony pulled out his cell phone. McGee looked slightly frightened of Tony. "What are you doing?" McGee asked.

"I'm calling Gibbs." Tony said angrily.

No one knew but Gibbs…and Ziva. Perhaps the only danger Tony and McGee were ever in was the safety that Gibbs and Ziva created. And everyone knows that safety is the most dangerous thing.


	5. Truth

Chapter 4

Truth

A tired voice answered the phone. "Mike, what do you want?" Mike answered grumpily.

"I need to speak to Jethro Gibbs." Tony said firmly.

"Jethro isn't here in Mexico anymore. He went back to D.C to build some boat. He said he likes the states better." Mike replied. "He doesn't want to be disturbed though…"

"This is an emergency. How can I contact him?" Tony asked sternly.

"He lives at the same place he's been living in for ages…" Mike began.

Tony mumbled a thanks and hung up quickly. He then called Gibbs's home phone number. "Hello?" Gibbs's voice asked.

"Hello Gibbs, it's me Tony." Tony said shakily.

Gibbs sighed. "What do you want DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Ziva's been kidnapped and we've found a photo of her and Ari. Why didn't you tell me she was his boyfriend? How could you have trusted her?" Tony fired off quickly.

"First of all Ari wasn't Ziva's boyfriend. What do you mean Ziva's been kidnapped? Wait, I'll be right over." Gibbs said in a surprisingly caring voice.

Tony and Gibbs hung up. McGee and Abby were watching Tony carefully. "What's going on?" McGee asked.

"Gibbs is coming back." Tony said shortly.

Abby let out a cry of joy. "Yes! Gibbs is coming back! Yeah!" Abby shouted excitedly.

"He's not coming back for good. He's just coming to help." Tony said.

Abby looked disappointed. "Oh," She said quietly.

It seemed like forever until Gibbs walked out of the elevator walked over to Tony, McGee and Abby. "What happened DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked quickly.

"It appears that Ziva was kidnapped from her house, boss." Tony replied.

Gibbs smacked Tony on the back of the head. "Ow, what was that for?" Tony asked rubbing his head.

"For calling me boss." Gibbs grumbled. "Now what is this about Ari?"

Tony walked over to the table where the broken photo frame lay in an evidence bag. He picked it up and gave it to Gibbs. Gibbs slowly ran his hand across the photo in the frame. "Why didn't you tell us Ari was her boyfriend?" Tony asked coldly.

Gibbs looked up at Tony sadly. "He wasn't her boyfriend." Gibbs said quietly.

"Then why is so up close and cozy with Ziva?" McGee asked softly.

Gibbs expression remained the same. "They were half brother and sister." Gibbs said.

"They were related?" Tony shouted angrily. "Why in the hell didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell us? How can you trust her? No wonder she acted like she never cared! She was…one of them! Ari killed Kate! You just thought to employ the same blood that killed Kate! How can we even trust you?"

Gibbs calmly waited for Tony to end his angry rant. "You trusted her." Gibbs said. "You trusted her before I told you, so why shouldn't you give her the same trust as before?"

"Because I never knew this before! She can't be trusted!" Tony yelled.

Gibbs set the photo down. "You still don't have all the facts DiNozzo. Don't make a judgment before you know everything." Gibbs said.

"What don't I know? You killed Ari and everything settled it's self out until this!" Tony said angrily.

"I didn't kill Ari." Gibbs stated.

Abby and McGee looked confused while Tony looked angry. "So who killed the bastard?" Tony demanded.

"Ziva," Gibbs replied walked back on to the elevator.

"Ziva killed her half-brother?" Abby asked.

Gibbs didn't reply. Tony and McGee followed him on to the elevator. All the while Tony couldn't believe that Ziva was related to a terrorist, but he also couldn't believe she killed her half-brother. "Why?" McGee asked quietly in the elevator.

"To save me." Gibbs responded.

Tony now understood why Gibbs trusted Ziva.

A/N- Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been really busy with school, but now that it's summer, I'll have more time to write (although my summer is quite busy so I can't guarantee my updates being too much faster). I'm sorry! I'll try to hurry up as quickly as I can.


	6. End

Chapter 5

End

Ziva woke up in a house, tied to a bed. It wasn't her house, but it was a rather nice house. The room was empty except for the bed. The room was wallpapered with a flower design that Ziva really liked. "If I wasn't tied up and this room wasn't so empty, it would be a pretty nice room." Ziva muttered quietly to herself.

This made her laugh. "God, I'm going senile." Ziva muttered again. "I'm talking to myself!"

Suddenly, Ziva felt her stomach drop and she realized something. She had been kidnapped and drugged. "No wonder I'm acting odd!" Ziva exclaimed. "I've been drugged!"

Ziva tugged at her restraints, but as they were metal, they weren't going anywhere. "Now I need to stop talking to myself." Ziva noted. "Darn, I'm doing it again!"

With this Ziva burst out laughing. A man walked in. "I knew I gave you too much of that crap…" He muttered walking over to Ziva and showing her a gun. "If you don't shut up, I'll shoot. Understand?" He said firmly in Hebrew.

Surprised that the man spoke Hebrew, Ziva stopped laughing and nodded. "What's going on?" Ziva asked rather stupidly.

"You've been kidnapped, okay?" The man replied in English.

Ziva nodded. _I knew that! _Ziva thought to herself tiredly. The man stormed out of the room and slammed the wooden door.

Ziva drifted back to sleep.

------

"So how are we going to figure out where Ziva is?" McGee asked.

Tony and Gibbs exchanged looks. "Go ahead, you're the boss." Gibbs said.

"Whoever took Ziva must have similar skills to her to cause such a mess. We need to go through Ziva's old files and see if anyone has a real grudge." Tony replied.

-----

Ziva awoke to footsteps. She saw the barrel of a gun. Before she could even understand what was going on, she heard a loud bang and then there was nothing. Ziva David was dead.

-----

Three Weeks Later

The team had found Ziva, but they found her too late. Gibbs went back to his house probably to go finish his boat that wouldn't ever get finished in his lifetime. Tony ended up with just McGee, but they're getting two new members.

They would never know who killed Ziva and why, but one thing was for sure. Ziva would never be forgotten.

Even though the team was broken before, they were even more shattered now.

**The End**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

A/N- Sorry for the lame ending and for the lame story, but I'm busy and I don't really care for the story plot. At first, I was so excited to do it and I was going to keep Ziva alive, but then I was just tired of writing this story, so I killed her off. I don't think I've ever killed anyone off before. Sorry!

Kylie Anderson


End file.
